The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection: More than 1000 of the Greatest Classics

by Various

The Penguin Classics Library: Available for the first time in one complete collection only at Amazon.com. For more than half a century Penguin has been the leading publisher of classics in the English-speaking world. Since the publication of the first Penguin Classic in 1946--E.V. Rieu's translation of The Odyssey--Penguin's mission has been to make the great books of all time available at a reasonable cost. To this end, Penguin is dedicated to making sure that these books speak to contemporary readers by embracing excellence in scholarship, translation, and book design. The Penguin Classics list is organic. New books are brought into the series and others are removed as tastes and interest in literature evolve. Penguin's ability to react to the always evolving universe of great literature is one of the many things that has made Penguin the leader in classics publishing. Now, for the first time, the entire line of Penguin Classics is available in one complete collection for home, office, or institutional libraries. The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection currently consists of 1,082 titles, all great works of literature totaling nearly half a million pages. From Renaissance philosophy to the poetry of revolutionary Russia, from the spiritual writings of India to the travel narratives of the early American colonists, from The Complete Pelican Shakespeare to The Portable Sixties Reader, there are classics here to educate, provoke, entertain, and enlighten readers of all interests and inclinations.
From Edwin A. Abbott to Emile Zola, the 1,082 titles in the Penguin Classics Complete Library total nearly half a million pages--laid end to end they would hit the 52-mile mark. Approximately 700 pounds in weight, the titles would tower 828 feet if you stacked them lengthwise atop each other--almost as tall as the Empire State Building. But don't worry, a nice set of bookshelves will hold them side-by-side just fine.

Genres: Classics

Paperback

Published March 25, 2005

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is tempting

It's a matter of economy of scale; these books are going for about two years' worth of gasoline. If you read a book a day this offer will keep you going for nearly three years. If it is a book a week, then we are looking at 20 years, not taking into account any re-reading.

Many people spend this amount of money and time over and over again in their libraries. One would not think a second time about buying a subscription to a magazine to save on individual issues; these are just books instead of magazines.

In this day and age, one has to think about their ROI (return on investment), and if you calculate the time that you can take to enjoy these books it is a fraction of what most entertainment costs today.

I have quite a few Penguin Classics from back when they had the monochrome orange and white covers. I figured they may be valuable one day. Now I see the true value in their being read.

A small caution is that they do have not duplicates but different versions or translations of some works as “The Iliad” by Homer has four different books:
ISBN: 0140445927
ISBN: 0140275363
ISBN: 0140444440
ISBN: 0140447946

[Velma]

It's only $999...